had, such as determining how to
cook a still-frozen turkey; where to
buy waterproof boots; figuring out
how many movies Patrick Swayze
made. But as we all learn, some
sources for “the facts” are more reliable than others.

We learn, in other words, that
gathering information isn’t enough.
Not all resources for the truth are
created equal. Some sources are
authoritative. Others offer more or
less what I’m already doing: caging
the odds and making my best guess.
That is why we have authority, and
why we need it.

A big deposit

of faith doesn’t belong to the clergy
alone, guarded in a hallowed vault of
truth, but is the treasure of the whole
church. We maintain it by professing and practicing together what has
“come to us from the apostles,” as
we say at Mass.

Pope John Paul II reminded thechurch that an earlier pope, Pius XII,once declared that “lay believers arein the front line of church life; forthem the church is the animatingprinciple of human society. There-fore, they in particular ought to havean ever-clearer consciousness of notonly belonging to the church, but ofbeing the church”(CCC no. 899).How do we expressthe deposit of faithall together, then,as church? Throughthoughtful atten-tion to and study ofscripture. By beinginformed aboutthe long history ofdoctrine and the documents thatmake up church teaching, includingthose being added regularly by localbishops and the pope today. By par-

There’s littlein my life of faith thatdoesn’t come to medirectly or indirectlyas a result of 20centuries of magisterialcollaboration.

“

passed forward. I know that there’s
little in my life of faith that doesn’t
come to me directly or indirectly as
a result of 20 centuries of magisterial
collaboration.

What does themagisterium providefor each generationof the church? It’sentrusted with thedeposit of faith: that“trustworthy teach-ing” scripture refersto that guarantees “aremarkable har-mony” between the church’s leader-ship and faithful membership, in thewords of the Catechism of the Catho-lic Church (CCC no. 84). The depositIn matters of faith, Catholics havedeveloped a structure of authorityknown as the magisterium. It’s theteaching power of the church, laiddown in gospel terms when Jesuscalls Saint Peter his rock and laterwhen the apostles are on hand inthe upper room to receive the guid-ing and illuminating Holy Spirit.Through apostolic succession—the“laying on of hands” that confersleadership on each new generation ofthe church—connection to that orig-inal authority has been protected and

BOOKS ON CHURCH AUTHORITY

Turning Points: Unlocking the Treasures of the Church by
James Philipps (Twenty-Third Publications, 2006)

Scripture in the Tradition: Milestones in Catholic Theology by
Henri de Lubac (Crossroad Publishing, 2001)